Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

I think this is my earliest ANDERSON ancestor… it is my “working” theory. Most all of my work on this blog centers around this theory.

…as usual click the blue filename under the graphic for a better page view.

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In the early 2000s I communicated with Paul Anderson (now deceased). He had some theories about the early ANDERSONS of NC. He over-generalized in his excitement and study. He will turn up in Google searches and unfortunately much of his Big Picture ideas have turned out to be, as I say, “over generalized”. But, respectfully and fondly, I think he was spot on in his research of his ancestor who was a RW patriot named George Anderson of Granville. Other members of this family relocated to Cumberland County, NC and left a trail.

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My take on that George Anderson can be found here:

I currently think that is the best shot for a DNA sample of the link to 1695 George of IOW.

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David Gammon and I (and others) have speculated that there are several people in the general area of Occoneechee Neck, NC (Halifax/Roanoke River) who may be related to the James Anderson I reference above. The problem is that there is not a DNA sample for folks to compare. If any of you folks can muster the data and have the skills to do the analysis… then Shazam!… this could open a world of new knowledge. For instance:

Susanna Anderson and her likely son Peter Anderson who died in 1801.

John Anderson who married the widow of Daniel McDaniel. …and others

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Off topic I know… but this IS a blog.

Things have changed in my life… I was given a subscription (for Christmas) to a Fishing Magazine (I have a boat and love to fish)… I never read the mag in the two years the subscription lasted. I would flip thru a few pages and toss it aside.

I will rent a movie on TV and just turn it off after ten minutes… or sometimes at 3/4 the way through. Kids today have an expression- TMTR (too much to read)… I guess I have the malady.

I now find some sanity in YouTube. I love to watch real people doing real things. I will spend an hour and a half sipping coffee or a beer and watching this:

Look how Dr Hanson and Mike Rowe are dressed…listen to how they talk… they drop all pretensions and just communicate. No stuffy suits, classical music in the background or flashy graphics. I can easily tune in to either of these men (I think like them… I come from the world that they inhabit). I took SHOP CLASS from the 7th grade to 9th grade and loved it. I took DRAFTING CLASS at the same time (the classes were interspersed during the year). I can do simple things today (like swap an engine in a car) that folks now are utterly amazed at. My son (age 52) does handyman jobs on the side… he says people will pay him $300+ to install a simple ceiling fan and not blink an eye.

Where I live, funerals have been replaced with “celebrations of life”… I like it… you don’t wear suits and usually have a plate of food… a beer is not unheard of. Folks mill around and just talk about whatever comes to mind. The essential realization is made to all that a page has turned and we all come to grips and its time for all to move on. Photos of the deceased are displayed on a table. Folks arriving with the coat and tie will soon remove it and toss it in the back seat of the car or hang it on the back of a chair… sleeves are rolled up.

According to Elon Musk we are actually a bit “roboticized” (my word) in our present world… Borglike… I believe him. I left home the other day and forgot my cell phone… it was only a couple blocks so I turned around and retrieved it. Holy Moly! I was detached! Get in your car and leave your seatbelt undone. Is that awareness you feel stress?

I only watch YouTube. If it gets taken out or corrupted, the TV goes in the trash. Then perhaps I will start reading again.

My genealogy pursuits and ventures into history are therapy for me… if I disappear and grow silent for a while I always come back. Like my friend Jennifer from California opined to me… we are a bit Obsessive Compulsive… some more than others. smiling

…… Irving Finkel (Curator at The British Museum) This guy is a Hilarious HOOT! And…he knows his stuff. I think I have a man crush on him… Laughing… If this guy does not cheer you up then it is hopeless.

My oldest “proveable” ancestor is William Anderson d 1789 in Edgecombe County, NC… he was “illegit” for you squeamish types. My undeniable DNA match is Edward Brantley d 1688 of Isle of Wight, VA. Which makes me a Brantley by blood and an Anderson by surname. Wm Anderson’s momma, by my best calculation, was the sister of Carolus Anderson who resided within walking distance of Thomas Pitman who lived along the Meherrin River separating VA and NC. She became Elizabeth Pitman, according to the 1733 will of Elizabeth Anderson, mother of Carolus and said Elizabeth Pitman. The details of my research are numerous and sundry on my blog here… use the search button if you dare.

Two wayward Pitman boys find themselves in Edgecombe County, say, the 1740s. One, by the name of James Pitman, likely married my GGGGGG Grandmama Elizabeth Anderson Pitman. The other chap, known as William Pitman, married a near neighbor of my ancestors in Edgecombe named Judith Ross. These two guys who wind up in Edgecombe County just baffles me. No one seems to have an idea of their origination, including the very frustrated “me”.

I am entertaining the idea that they may be bastards of one or more Pitman gals of either/or William Pitman or Thomas Pitman Srs. I have spent considerable time researching these families from Surry Co, VA, IOW and the Meherrin River area to Edgecombe County, NC. I have also considered the possibility that Thomas Pitman d 1730ish at Meherrin River may have had early sons by a first wife and the disparity of the ages of a possible “early, first family” may have precluded their names being mentioned in his last will. All of this is speculation of course. I offer no clues other than merely the “proximity” of the area and the “coincidence” of the time period in which all of these circumstances may have happened.

Aside from a ship dropping these two off randomly from Europe, where would they have come from at this early 1700ish time period? A speculative guess birthdate may have been 19690s?

The difficulty of proving this is intimidating to say the least…

A possible solution to this conundrum might lie in a DNA hunt… if I am correct my relative is indeed the Elizabeth Pitman in Edgecombe ( who seemingly married a James Pitman) then she likely had a son by him named Joseph Pitman (in my Posts or Pages). This Joseph perhaps had a son Abner… this might lead to a track for the mystery James Pitman.

See the recent comment by my friend David Boyett.